Rehabilitation

Redditor could lose young family after crypto trading addiction spirals

What began as a Redditor “just dabbling” two years ago blew into full-blown crypto trading addiction that all came to a head three weeks ago.

A self-confessed crypto trading addict and father of two is facing the dire prospect of losing his family forever after secretly racking up $180,000 in debt from his crypto trading habits.

Posting his story on the subreddit r/relationship_advice on Feb. 21, Reddit user “u/Leather_Opposite2135” said he started dabbling in cryptocurrency trading around 2021.

Fast forward two years to the present day, he’s been kicked out by his wife and is at least $180,000 in debt.

*Excerpt of one of the comments by the original poster responding to another Redditor. Source: Reddit*

“It started just dabbling,” said Leather. “It’s a tech space so I found it very interesting. Joined a bunch of online spaces (Discord) and eventually watched a few people trading btc and immediately got hooked.”

Within a year, he had already “burnt” $50,000 from trading cryptocurrency, with the funds lost coming mainly from his software business.

“Skip forward another year and it got really bad,” said Leather, noting that his addiction had started to take hold as he started to fund his trading through other means, such as personal loans and credit cards.

“I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but I found all sorts of ways to fund it, including getting personal loans, credit cards, lying about all of it.”

“I was gambling on my phone when I went to the bathroom, when the kids were sleeping, on my computer when not busy with work.”

Leather noted that around three weeks ago he finally came clean about the debt to his wife, who didn’t take the news well, threatening to leave him and take ownership of their house.

He’s since banned himself from crypto, handed over control of his trading accounts to his wife, and has been seeing a gambling addiction counselor weekly, but admitted it was initially hard to shake the addiction.

“Emotionally, I was all over the place for the first 2 weeks. Cold turkey from something I spent 10 hours a day on (minimum) […] All the while the little voice telling me to go looks at charts on the shoulder.”

The original post on Reddit has since been deleted by Leather_Opposite2135, but it is neither the first nor last story shedding light on the possible dangers of crypto trading addiction.

Rehabilitation centers around the world have begun adding crypto trading addiction to their list of services treating compulsive habits, next to alcohol, drugs and behavioral health.

*Crypto rehab center based in the United Kingdom. Source: Castle Craig*

“Clinically, we have certainly seen an increase in people coming to therapy who report difficulties in managing their crypto trading behavior,” clinical psychologist Dr. Anastasia Hronis told Cointelegraph in an email.

“In a similar way to gambling, many of them will report that it disrupts their day to day life, they spend a lot of time thinking about it, and may also be experiencing financial hardship as a result.”

Dr. Hronis noted that similar to online gambling addiction, there is an “ease of accessibility” with crypto trading “that can be quite dangerous for individuals.”

“A person can be seen to be engaging in their normal day-to-day life e.g. going to work, spending time with family and friends, participating in hobbies etc, while still trading alongside. This means that an addiction can actually become quite severe before anyone else in that person’s life notices.”

“Given the newness of crypto trading, I think that treatment is still catching up to some degree. While the general principles of treating an addiction can certainly be applied here, there are nuances with crypto trading that would benefit from being better understood for better inform clinical treatments,” added Dr. Hronis.

Spanish rehab center adds crypto trading addiction to services list

The rehabilitation center cited estimates that about 1% of cryptocurrency traders will develop an “extreme” addiction to crypto trading.

A luxury rehabilitation center in Spain has recently added services aimed at treating a relatively new kind of addiction — crypto trading.

The center, called “The Balance,” is a Switzerland-founded wellness center, with its main facility located on the Spanish island of Mallorca along with branches in London and Zurich.

While it has long treated addictions such as alcohol, drugs and behavioral health, it recently began offering services aimed at combatting crypto trading addiction, according to a report from the BBC.

The Feb. 5 report revealed that one of the center’s clients reached out so that he could “wean off crypto” after reportedly pouring in $200,000 worth of trades each week.

The treatment involves a four-week stay that involves therapy, massages and yoga. The bill can be upward of $75,000.

In another part of the world, Castle Craig Hospital — a Scottish-based addiction rehabilitation clinic treating high-adrenaline crypto traders since 2018 — has seen over 100 clients come in with “dangerous” cryptocurrency problems.

*Castle Craig’s rehabilitation facility. Source:* *Castle Craig.*

In Asia, Diamond Rehabilitation — a Thailand-based wellness center operating since 2019 — has also added services dedicated to cryptocurrency addiction rehab and treatment.

The organization said it approaches rehab through the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Psychodynamic Theory (PT), as part of its comprehensive, multi-stage approach to help traders overcome their addiction.

It is believed that the euphoric highs and crushing lows of the fast-paced, 24/7 cryptocurrency trading arena have brought in real demand for rehabilitation centers to offer services for trading addicts.

An article by Family Addiction Specialist estimates based on gambling disorder statistics that about 1% cryptocurrency traders will develop a severe pathological addiction, while 10% will experience other problems beyond that of a financial loss.

*The 24/7 nature of crypto trading has caused many to constantly check price charts. Source:* *Family Addiction Specialist.*

Symptoms of this addiction, according to Family Addiction Specialist, include constantly checking the prices online — particularly in the middle of the night.

Mt. Gox trustee releases repayment procedures update

The Restriction Reference Period is one of the final steps in repaying creditors, according to the document released Wednesday.

Mt. Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi released updated information on Wednesday regarding the rehabilitation plan for creditors of the long-defunct crypto exchange. According to the file, the restriction reference period starts on September 15. During the phase, “the assignment, transfer or succession, provision as collateral, or disposition by other means of rehabilitation claims are prohibited.”

Kobayashi confirmed that creditors have until September 15 to submit claims regarding funds lost when the early crypto exchange collapsed in 2014:

“During the Assignment, etc. Restriction Reference Period, the Rehabilitation Trustee will cease accepting applications for claim transfer procedures through the Rehabilitation Claim Filing System.”

The document is unclear about the deadline for the restriction period but confirms that it will be followed by the first entire repayment to creditors, as outlined in the Rehabilitation Plan approved by roughly 99% of the eligible users affected by the case.

The file also stated that if a notice of transfer is submitted during the restriction period, the trustee may be unable to determine whom to repay:

“This may result in rehabilitation creditors being unable to receive their preferred Repayments, the Repayment date being delayed significantly compared to other rehabilitation creditors, or at worst, the Repayment amount may be deposited with the Tokyo Legal Affairs Bureau in accordance with laws and regulations.”

Earlier this week, Twitter rumors about a 137,000 BTC dump put pressure on crypto markets. Creditors later dismissed the speculation on social media.

Mt. Gox was one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges, and at one time facilitated more than 70% of all trades made within the blockchain ecosystem. Following a major hack in 2011, the site subsequently collapsed in 2014 due to alleged insolvency; the fallout affected about 24,000 creditors and resulted in the loss of 850,000 BTC. In November 2021, the exchange’s trustee confirmed that the rehabilitation plan was in Japan’s court system. It is one of the final steps in a long process that began in 2018 with a petition to compensate creditors.